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Mary Stuart
Mary Stuart (December 8, 1542 – February 8, 1587), more commonly refereed to as Mary, Queen of Scots, was the Queen of Scotland and claimant to the English throne. She inherited the Scottish throne within a week of her birth and during her mother''s regency, Henry VIII began the Rough Wooing of Scotland whereby the English sacked Edinburgh and raided the borders to try and force Mary to marry Henry's heir Edward VI. In response, Mary of Guise arranged the marriage of Mary to the dauphin Francis of France and sent the child to educated in France. During her time in France she began to favor French fashions and adopted a french accent that stay with her throughout her life. Mary returned to Scotland after the death of her husband and her mother. She remarried Henry Stuart and gave birth to James VI (future James I of England). The marriage soured and Stuart was assassinated. Mary remarried James Hepburn which prompted the Scottish nobles to revolt and prompted Mary's escape to England under the assurance her cousin Elizabeth I would help her reclaim her throne. Her ancestors include a several of the protagonists of other Gregory novels including Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth of York and Margaret Tudor. The Other Queen During the Winter of 1568, Mary Stuart is held captive at Bolton Castle. She was captured after the battle of Carberry Hill and imprisoned at Loch Leven from where she later escaped. Fleeing to England Mary is not received by Elizabeth rather she is gifted her hand-me-down clothes and housed (or rather imprisoned) by Lord and Lady Scope. Mary is indignant at this treatment; seeing herself as the rightful queen of three nations and Elizabeth as a usurping bastard. Mary believes she was wrongly driven off her throne and is innocent of the murder of her husband lord Darnley. she believes she is victimized because she is a beautiful young catholic woman and that Elizabeth should silence her criticizes lest the English people rise against her in the same fashion the Scots did with Mary. She believes that Queens should defend each other despite the fact that Mary covets the English crown. One thing she takes comfort in is theknowledge that no one can kill an anointed monarch. Unbeknownst to her,Cecil's evidence begins to mount against the Scottish queen but not enough to convict her of treason. With Cecil's plans are momentarily thwarted and it being too dangerous to restore Mary, George Talbot is summoned before Elizabeth and is tasked with housing the Scottish Queen in England for the time being. Relationship with Bothwell Mary describes Bothwell as "The cleverest and wickedest man in Scotland" yet their relationship is a complicated one. At first Mary states that she was abused, bullied and raped by Bothwell but that her dignity would never permit her to complain of it. Despite the violence of this act, she believes he is trying to escape his prison in Denmark to rejoin her on the Scottish throne and seems to welcome the prospect. So much so that she has written the King of Denmark to release Bothwell and dismisses the claims that he is a bigamist, Once Mary placed into the care of George talbot, she begins corresponding with Bothwell for him to rescue her and even confides to Bess Talbot about her relationship with Bothwell. On the night of David Rizzio's murder, Mary's own life iwas threatened and it is Bothwell that rescued Mary from the murderous Scottish nobles which included her consort Lord Darnley. She says that Bothwell was the only man in Scotland she could trust and that he loyally would always support her; going so far as to raise an army against Rizzio's murderers. After the death of her husband and consort Lord Darnley, In which Bothwell and Mary were implicated, she states that Bothwell stood by her before declaring that he had married Mary. She says that the marriage was not legal in that it was not preformed in a catholic church and that the marriage was invalid due to bigamy. When questioned about love, Mary replies that they "never spoke of love". Bess notices that Mary did not answer the question but doesn't press the question further. This is at odds with the gossip which is that Mary was kidnapped, imprisoned and raped with marriage being the only means to salvage Mary's reputation. When Mary offered an advantageous marriage to Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, she coldly states that her marriage to Bothwell was forced and therefore invalid and means she is free to marry. Her private correspondence with Bothwell pragmatically asks for the annulment but with the understanding that they will be reunited in Scotland and that she is, and always will be, His Marie.This may imply that the two were lovers before the death of Darnley as some of the gossip suggests. As Mary's plans progress and she becomes embroiled with plans to return to Scotland with norfolk, she cannot help but compare him to Bothwell. She says that she could not tolerate a "half hearted man" after being married to Bothwell. She confesses that she loves his ambition, his shrewdness and his daring. She also reveals the events after Bothwell's rescue on the night of rizzio's murder. "he who was never gentle" carried her in his arms, laid her down on a bed and reassured her. Mary promptly banishes thoughts of Bothwell and promises not to think of him. Howvere when Mary is informed that she will not be returning to Scotland she writes to Bothwell once again asking for him to join her. When the North raises up against Elizabeth in favor of Mary, Mary is convinced that Bothwell has escaped and will do anything to be with her, She recalls their last moments together; Bothwell successfully predicting what would happen and requesting that they stand and fight or escape together. Mary refuses and they fight during which Bothwell tells Mary that she will be raped and murdered if she stays in Scotland because he previously raped her and confesses to murdering her husband. Bothwell says that by making Mary his he has shown other men how mortal and vulnerable she is and that she is deluded to think that the aura of queen ship would save her. He leaves her without so much as a goodbye. For the rest of the novel Mary looks for guidance or at least a response from Bothwell. She thinks on how he would save her and not idolize her as other men do. she also begins to refer to him as "my Bothwell". She ends one letter: "...we know what we are to each other, and it remains our secret...". Trvia * Mary fondly recalls a story that Bothwell told her the story of calling up a storm (page 214). She goes to an open window and whistles hoping to call upon bad weather and believing that Bothwell successfully called up a storm before the Battle of Carberry hill. This is exactly what Elizabeth Woodville does before the battle of Tewksbury and also as Warwick flees to Calais. This is interesting as Elizabeth Woodville is Mary's ancestor yet it is Bothwell that knows the story. * Mary is one of the most beautiful protagonists and captivates most of the men around her. During their first meeting George Talbot compares her to a beautiful witch. Her beauty and ability to ensnare men she may have inherited from ancestor Elizabeth Woodville. She may also have inherited Elizabeth's powers. * in the book, she enlists the help of a boy named Bambridge to carry her letters to conspirators. Bambridgee would grow up to try and assassinate Elizabeth I. * Both Mary and Katherine Howard use the expression Voila * Mary's life mirrors that of her grandmother Margaret Tudor. Both were driven out of Scotland after marrying unsuitable Scottish lords and forced to leave their sons. Category:Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Tudor Characters Category:Queens Category:Historical figures Category:Scottish characters Category:Executed characters Category:Royals Category:Catholic characters Category:Real people Category:Protagonists